Somatic Movement Education Program (SME)
Directed by Jens Johannsen and Friederike Tröscher
Starting again June 2012
The Somatic Movement Education Program (SME) is at the core of the BMC Programs. It is the base for the Practitioner Program. The SME Program comprises 12 courses over approximately 2 years. The study contains body systems and the developmental movement process. Participants learn the fundamentals of embodiment practices. Whilst working on ourselves and others, we embody the anatomy and physiology of our physical structures; we touch and are touched in partnering hands-on techniques; we use sound, vibration, verbal dialogue and more to access the body’s wonders. The experience of the inner tissues is brought to consciousness and taken into expression. The SME material has immediate applications to movement based disciplines— such as dance, yoga, sports, martial arts - and to other therapeutic modalities such as physiotherapy, occupational therapy, psychotherapy, bodywork and massage. The journey we take leads to greater awareness and deeper understanding of ourselves as human beings. It helps to understand how the mind is expressed through the body, and the body through the mind.
This 500+ hour program requires two years of study. Graduates are qualified to use the work in educational contexts.
Click here to get to the description of the courses offered
*These courses are also part of the IDME program (Infant Developmental Movement Education Program) which applies BMC especially to the working with babies in the first year of life.
The first and last day of each course are full days. The classes start at 9:00 in the morning and end at 18:15. There is a two hour lunch break. The course fees do not include accommodation. If registering two month before the course there is a reduction of 50 Euro per course except for Competency. If you cancel 2 weeks before a course starts, we just keep the deposit, after that the whole course fee is due. For Certification students also need to complete certain homework. This are 5 guidance sessions with a Practitioner of BMC®, 2 private sessions with a BMC® Practitioner, 10 study sessions and 5 SME classes (where you teach the material to a small group of people), 100 hours of movement classes and 50 hours of meditative practice. The costs of about 300 Euros are not included in the course fees and are only required for those who wish to graduate from as Somatic Movement Educators. The payments are due two weeks before the course starts. Each course may be taken individually without any prerequisites except Competency.
Location
The training takes place in two places: the Fabrik Potsdam (www.fabrikpotsdam.de) near Berlin (courses 1-4) and in “Das Haus” (courses 5-13; www.feldenkraiszentrum.de) in the small village Mechernich-Vussum in The Eifel, approximately 1 hour south-west of Cologne (courses 5-13, marked 2). The Eifel is a thinly settled part of Germany with rolling hills and in this area lots of forests. The Feldenkrais-Center in which we will run our courses has a beautiful large studiospace with hardwood-floors. There is a private garden, a kitchen and several rooms to socialize in. The center has hosted trainings with large groups for over 15 years. We are joining an infrastructure that has proven its values. (See www.feldenkraiszentrum.de) Participants can rent affordable flats or rooms in the private homes of the village. (Most of them under 25 €/night, some under 20 €.) In most places there are cooking-facilities.
The Teachers of the European Program
The programs are taught by Certified Teachers of Body-Mind Centering. They have many years teaching experience and embodiment practice of the BMC material. They come from different European countries and the United States. All courses are taught in English. Jens Johannsen, Friederike Tröscher and Thomas Greil are amongst the teachers you will meet.
Click here to get to the biographies of the teachers.
The Somatic Movement Education (SME) Program is continuing into Practitioner of Body-Mind Centering Program 2015-2017